Bible: Can We Trust It?

Question: The Bible's full of great stories but is there any convincing evidence for any of them? Answer: Long before people proved it scientifically, the Bible indicated that Earth hangs in space: "He stretcheth out the north over empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing," (Job 26:7) and that Earth is round: "It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth…" (Isaiah 40:22) The Bible also confirms the scientific theory of the various stages of Earth's formation. One of the best evidences of the Bible's validity is fulfilled prophecies. Most of the prophecies in the Bible have already been fulfilled or are being fulfilled, such as the ruining of Babylon: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there." (Isaiah 13:19-20, American Standard Version) What was once a great city lies in ruins to this day. Not only was the destruction of Babylon prophesied, but also by whom and how the city would be destroyed and conquered were foretold. About 200 years later, after the ruining of Babylon was prophesied, Persian King Cyrus captured the entire city by complete surprise, finding its own gates wide open--exactly as foretold (Isaiah 45). In addition, the Bible prophesied Cyrus releasing Israelites from Babylonian captivity to rebuild Jerusalem, and it came true. The Bible also correctly predicted the successions of world powers: Persia, Greek, Rome, etc--along with their strengths and weaknesses. The rest of the prophecies will be fulfilled at Jehovah's appointed time. Archeologists have uncovered plenty of artifacts and the ruins of cities where people and events the Bible has talked about were located. When you search for "Biblical archeology" on Google, you will find references to some of the astounding findings. However, the best reason to trust the Bible is the fact that this holy book is from Jehovah! He is the God of truth, who never lies and always fulfills His words: "For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11, ASV) Keeping this fact in mind will help wipe away any doubts about the Bible we have ever had, and strengthen our faith in God's promises and plans. The faithful Jehovah will never forget us: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee." (Isaiah 49:15, ASV) (Question submitted by John Richards, an English Science teacher in the UK married to a Christian African woman with a gorgeous 2-year-old daughter.)